BitGrail in More Trouble as Italian Authorities Seize Bitcoin

In an official announcement yesterday, BitGrail have revealed that their company Bitcoins have been seized by Italian authorities. The seizure, which occurred on June 5th, was of an undisclosed amount.

On June 5, 2018, pursuant to the Tribunal of Florence orders, the Bitcoins contained in the company’s wallets were seized and brought under control of the judicial authorities pending further Court decisions in the prebankruptcy proceeding.

Is This the End?

The troubles keep coming for BitGrail. Following a petition from BonelliErede, an Italian law firm, the company were forced to cease operations as recently as May. This came after a theft of $180 million of Nano XRB holdings left the company in financial dire straits. They had promised to refund customers, but an online poll revealed that the majority of people wanted to see BitGrail file for bankruptcy and Francisco Firano, the founder and CEO, had argued that the refund would be impossible anyway. They reopened only a week later, but were again forced to close that same day, pending a hearing. Firano’s statement on the BitGrail site read “even though we don’t agree with this decision, we are obliged to respect the law and to suspend any BitGrail business immediately”.

There has also been the ongoing war of words between Nano and Firano, with each blaming the other’s protocol for the theft. It now seems as if BitGrail will indeed fold, although Firano himself has been critical of the decision that the authorities have made, as he would prefer to reopen and work to earn back the lost funds.